Back to Rough Sketching

I have been working on developing illustration skills for months. After all that time and effort, I decided to quit. Here is why I’m done with illustration, I need to get Back to Rough Sketching.

Firstly, I have to make it clear that I like all of my pieces. I love most of them. Furthermore, I am proud of all the progress that I made being self-thought on Digital Illustration. However, I’ve been feeling that I’m dedicating too much time to it. A time that I enjoy, but not necessarily an efficient way to use it.

I do those architecture illustrations just for pleasure, for the love of art. Even when they love it, my clients and my job doesn’t demand that level of detail so, I need to stay focused.

Rough sketches show the core concept of design, that initial idea that gives birth to a building project. A good sketch drawing is one that shows your vision without spending too much time and resources on its production. Also, I realized that what I have been doing on the latest projects is the kind of job more oriented to marketing means. That’s the kind of work to sell a project, not necessarily to create it. That led me to make this decision.

This set of rough sketches of a country farmhouse that I’m working on in Texas showcases all of those core concepts and principles. You see quick and firm strokes defining what’s going on in my mind for this house. I merged everything in a single color and a single layer. Exterior lines, material texture lines, shadows, frames, glasses, everything is a single piece. Finally, after I defined my concept, I added a white color to make the house stand out from the background. The fog and walls were added to that same white layer with the same strokes.

Being back to rough is kind of a release. That means going back to focus primarily on design. Of course, I will always be exploring in my work. Perhaps, this is a step back to move forward exploring in a different direction. We’ll see…

Thank you for following my Digital Sketch Learning process. I’m back to Rough Sketching, I’m done with illustration, but not for good. I decided to save it for specific situations. So my tools, templates, and acquired skills will be there, ready to bring those illustrations back. 

Meet me at my Pinterest account!